As we celebrate Memorial Day, what makes someone a hero?

As this column is being written, we are mourning the death of a San Antonio firefighter. I, like many other people, am in awe of anyone who will go into a burning building to save the life of someone else regardless of the danger, then dismiss praise by saying, “That’s my job.”

On Memorial Day, we visit the graves of our war heroes. We are awed by acres of white marble tombstones standing as if at attention and engraved with names of men and women who served in the military, have performed acts of astounding bravery and then dismissed praise for heroism saying, “I just did what I was trained to do,” or “He was my buddy.”

For me, it’s easy to understand a parent dashing into a burning building to save a child or a friend jumping into a frozen river to rescue a drowning buddy.

But when I think of the many people who dedicate their lives to the service of people they don’t even know, I am truly awed.

Military service often involves going into battle to defend the citizens of countries that either didn’t exist or couldn’t easily be found on a map during the heroes’ school days.

Police officers and firefighters never know exactly what they will face when they go off on a call.

Firefighters have to cope when wind shifts change directions of forest fires or buildings collapse, to name just a few of the dangers. Any traffic stop a police officer makes could be as life-threatening as a call to quell violence.

And yet there are women and men who voluntarily choose dangerous work that involves putting the safety of others before their own.

We often read about military or community safety service being “the family business” for several generations of some families and that many who complete military service choose community safety services as a second career.

Belatedly, the families of our heroes are getting acknowledgement.

They are the spouses, children and other relatives who worry every time their military person goes off to a foreign war or “peacekeeping mission,” or their firefighters and police officers go off to their daily work shifts.

In travel stops at small U.S. cities, we find monuments erected to honor heroes who have died in wars. Too often we see names of several members in the same family engraved on the flag pole plaques and can only imagine the grief the families must have felt.

What makes someone a hero? Heroes need not have died in performance of their chosen duties. I think the very act of choosing to serve country or community, when that service means putting your life on the line daily, makes you a hero.

In view of their sacrifices, few words adequately express appreciation to our heroes but, at the very least, we need say, “Thank you for your service,” more often.